"Holliday tagging at third, there should be a play at the plate . . . the catch, here comes the throw . . . he dives . . . he's safe! The Rockies are headed to the postseason! But hold your horses. Padres manager Bud Black has thrown the review flag."

It sounds surreal: A celebration is halted as a team recoils in the dugout. Can you imagine the shock?

Ever since that play ended the National League wild-card tiebreaker and raised the debate of whether Matt Holliday ever touched home plate, the subject of instant replay in baseball has become a daily topic.

With the World Series ahead, the technology available, and the stakes as high as they are, why wouldn't baseball accept a fail-safe opportunity to protect itself?

I think it can be and should be used for disputed home runs (fair, foul, did it clear the wall?).

Click to expand...

The only play I'll use to advocate instant replay in baseball is Jeter's home run in the 1996 ALCS, where that punk Jeffrey Maier took a ball from Tony Tarasco.

I don't think baseball needs it, though it does look tempting at times. Umpires know what they're doing. They don't need to keep their eyes on 22 players on the field to make sure they get every infraction whistled. With four sets of eyes on the pitcher, the hitter and the runners, the umpires are OK. I just think this issue is magnified in the postseason -- or play-in games -- for plays like Holliday's and Ramirez's long single, which was the right call, by the way.

Balls over the yellow line at some parks, yes. (For the record, any ball that hits above the yellow line at Jacobs IS a home run. A similar situation occurred at a regular-season game I attended two years ago.)

Close plays at the plate in games where it would impact the score, yes.

Balls and strikes -- although very tempting -- no.

I agree a majority of the umpires know what they are doing, but there are enough clowns working these games that replay is a viable option. I have to agree about idiots like Angel and C.B. Don't forget Sam Holbrook, either. If you used replay on his strike calls you'll find he gets them wrong all the time and gets very defensive about it when challenged.